A Stork Delivered My Baby
by Lechanteur
Summary: The day that forever changed Edward Cullens life, when he opens his door to find a baby left abandoned on his door step. His life will never be the same as he tries to track down the mother of the baby.
1. Chapter 1

Bella POV

I took a deep breath, and carefully set the basket and bag at my feet. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my cheeks flushed and my palms were sweaty. Bending down, I glanced one last time at the little bundle snugly wrapped in the basket. Slowly I pressed my finger tips to my lips and then lightly grazed my fingers over the sleeping baby's forehead. "I love you" I whispered as my eyes started to fill with tears. I straightened up, rang the bell and then ran down the steps, not waiting to see if anyone opened the door.

I jumped into my car, starting the engine and sped off down the street as fast as I was able. Not really looking where I was going.

On the outside, I must have looked a mess as my body trembled, my eyes filled to the brim with tears as they slowly filled and ran down my face. On the inside, my heart was physically breaking in two.

But this was the choice I had made, and this wasn't about me. This was about her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Edwards POV**

I picked up my blackberry scrolling through my emails as made my way down stairs. Although I didn't have to, I was up at 6.30 nearly every week day for my morning run. Unless I had a hangover that was, or had picked up the night before, in that case I stayed in bed, not having to get up and wasting most of the morning. If it wasn't for my run, I swear some days I wouldn't get out of bed till 3.

I was one lucky motherfucker, left a generous trust fund from my old Grandfather Edward Senior, I didn't have to work. With enough money for me to live my life several times over, I made the most all that was handed to me on that silver platter. I wasn't stupid though, I did invest in my money and threw a bit at a charity every now and then (those Charity Galas weren't half bad, you wrote a cheque and in return got some free food, booze and an easy lay by some wannabe girl trying to climb the social ladders). As one of New York's most eligible bachelors, I made sure I kept myself enough in the papers to maintain my play boy reputation. There was nothing like being photographed with one girl, to have the others lining up trying to out do her. It was also one of the reasons I ran nearly every day, to keep my body in shape, and to keep the girls knocking at my door. I was hot and I knew it.

Most Monday mornings though I struggled. When you don't have to get out of bed to go to work, its easy to sleep the day away. There was something about Mondays, the weekend being over (although technically every day was a weekend for me) and the week ahead dragging out in front of me. Most Mondays I didn't usually make my run this early, but for some reason today I was awake before my alarm went off.

I set my coffee maker, getting it ready so that it finished brewing when I returned from my run. A good dose of caffeine was the only way I was remotely able to speak to anyone through the course of the day. Without it I was like bull with a sore head. As I fiddled with the machine, I mentally began planning my day. After my run, I liked to read the paper, drink a cup or three of strong coffee before showering and dressing.

Today was going to be painful. I had lunch with my Mother and sister Alice, they had gone on and on about not spending enough time with me lately and so naturally cornered me into lunch at one of their favourite stuffy restaurants. Before we had even ordered, my mother would try and set me up with some of her friends horribly stuffy social daughters, lecturing me that "it was time to give up my lifestyle and settle down with a nice girl", her words, not mine, and my sister would try and rope me into helping her with whatever random project she was working on at that time. If I managed to make it out of there with one blind date lined up and volunteering to attend whatever event it was that my sister wanted me to go to, it was going to be a good day.

As I finished setting the coffee machine, my internal bitching about my family was interrupted by the door bell ringing. _That's odd _I thought_ who would be ringing the door bell this early? _I knew it wasn't my Mother or Alice, knowing I was meeting up with them later, as they were the only ones who would dare contact me at this time of the morning.

Pressing the final button on the machine, I slowly made my way to the front of my house and to the front door, in no rush to see who was there. As I undid the locks, I could hear what sounded like a whimpering coming for the other side. "I'm coming!" I yelled through the closed door. _What do they expect ringing the door bell this early, for me to be standing waiting on the other side?_

I opened the door ready to blast whoever it was that interrupted my morning to find no one there. I looked out down the steps and onto the street to find it completely empty. Fucking kids probably messing around again. Although I lived in a well to do part of town, it didn't stop the odd idiot running up and down the streets at all hours of the day pressing random door bells.

I was just about to shut the door when I heard the same whimper again, this time coming from my feet. I looked down, and immediately wished I hadn't. For there staring back at me from the confines of a pale pink basket was a baby girl. At least I presumed she was a girl, granted that she was covered in pink.

"Shit!" I swore. And then did what any self respecting bachelor would do in my situation. I stepped back inside and shut the door behind me turning and leaning against the wooden frame. Seriously I hadn't even had my morning coffee and I was already hallucinating, I seriously had to lay off the beers. I took in three deep breaths and opened the door, hoping to find that my steps were empty and I was just seeing things.

"Fuck" I swore again. Looking around again hoping to spot the kids mum or dad, "Hello" I yelled into the street. "Um, you have left your kid on my door step!". I stepped over the basket and down onto the steps and into the street looking left and right for any sign of someone. "Hello? This isn't funny, I'm going back inside and leaving the kid here so you might want to come and get it!" I shouted to the empty street, my voice echoing down the street. By this stage, I had thrust both my hands into my hair, pulling at my trademark bronze locks in frustration. I swear one of these days I was going to go bald with the amount of time I spent pulling my hair.

I continued to look hopefully up and down the street, but the only sounds I could hear was that of the wind in the trees. After standing on the pavement for a good few minutes with no response from anyone, I turned and headed back to my front door. By now I was starting to panic a little bit. I mean who just leaves their kid on a strangers doorstep?

By this time the baby was still staring up at me whimpering softly, although thankfully not crying. Did I look like someone that knew what the hell to do with a baby? I was seconds away from calling the cops, as I bent down to look at her closely, trying to see if there was any form of identification on her. It was then I noticed a small blue bag sitting next to the basket and tied to it was a cream coloured envelope.

I grabbed at the envelope, hoping to open it and find out this was all a practical joke, played on me by douche of a best friend, Emmett, and that any second now he would pop out of a bush yelling "Gotcha" along with the kids mother. I looked at my watch and noticed it was 6.45, how the fuck had I been out here for 15 minutes?

Wanting answers I reached down and removed the envelope from the bag. There was nothing written on the outside and so carefully I opened it and removed two sheets of paper. The first page was a letter, and the second what looked like a list. I started to read the letter, and as I did I could feel the colour draining from my face.

_Dear Edward Cullen, _

_If you are reading this then you have found Katie. Words cannot express how sorry I am to do this to you, but know that I only ever had her best interests at heart. I can no longer care for my daughter, your daughter, and so I have done the only thing I could to ensure she has the life she deserves. _

_I am leaving her with you, her only other flesh and blood, to look after her. To give her the childhood and life that I could only dream of giving her. Please love her, look after her and tell her that her mummy always loved her. Please give her everything that I never could. I will never forget her and will think about her every day. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Please don't look for me, please don't make this harder than it already is. _

_I'm sorry _

_Thank you from the bottom of my heart_

_The Stalk_

The second page appeared to be a list about the baby

_Name: Katie Elizabeth Cullen_

_Born: 6am Tuesday 1st__ September 2009_

_Age: 3 months_

_Hair: Bronze _

_Eye Colour: Green_

_No known allergies_

_Loves lullabies and being rocked to sleep and her teddy bear_

The list went on and on detailing what the kid ate, when it slept and all other random details.

FUCK I swore again, seriously this had to be some kind of joke. Who the hell would leave me, Edward Cullen a kid. Don't they know who I am? I don't do children, let alone a baby. Surely this woman had the wrong guy. There was no way I was its father. What was this, a reverse kidnapping? Instead of taking a kid, you leave?

I looked down again at the basket, taking a closer look at the face of the baby looking back up at me. It was then that I could feel the bile slowly rising in my throat. Before now I hadn't really looked at the kid, well not closely. But there staring back at me was a pair of green eyes, identical to my own, and sitting on the top of her head tied with a little pink bow was a mass of bronze curls. I leaned over the steps just in time as my body threw up the bile in my empty stomach.

Like I said there was something about Mondays.

XXX

**I would be really interested to hear what you think of my story so far. This is my first fanfic so please be patient whilst I try and sort out my thoughts onto paper. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer**

**Thank you for anyone showing interest in this story, it is definitely helping my write faster. This story for a while will be Edwards POV, and I must admit it is a little weird trying to be in a boys head. Just a little note, I don't have any children, although have babysat a lot and don't live in New York (although have been there several times) so if I get a few details majorly wrong, please do let me know! **

**Edwards POV**

My stomach finally finished dry reaching as my brain tried to process what the hell was happening. I straightened up, trying to resist the urge to pull out my hair and looked back at the basket and the cause of my early morning distress. At this point I did the only thing any single guy would do in this situation, I grabbed my phone and dialled the one person who I knew would solve all my problems.

"Good Morning Edward, to what do I owe the pleasure of such an early morning phone call?" came the soft and soothing tone down the phone.

"I need your help!" I almost screamed down the phone "Something's happened! Can you come here quickly?"

"Where are you? What's wrong? Yes, I can get there ,but what's going on?" her voice changing into mother hen mode and rapidly replying down the line, as she realised that I didn't call for an early morning chit chat.

"I'll explain it all when you get here, I'm at home. I'll see you soon" I replied, to which she replied that she was on her way.

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose and trying to calm my self down as jumbled thoughts ran through my head. My thoughts were interrupted though by the sound of a high pitched wail. As I opened my eyes I came face to face with a screaming baby. _Aghhh how does something so small make so much noise. _

"Shhhh baby" I said. "Now is not the time to start crying, I'm trying to think here" I told the kid, who appeared to take no notice of what I was saying and proceeded to cry louder. I looked around, realising that I was still standing on my front steps and that the street was starting to get busy as more and more people started there day. Not wanting to make a scene, and knowing that help was on its way, I picked up the basket containing the screaming baby and the blue bag and carried them inside, shutting the door behind me.

Now that I was inside I didn't know what to do. The kid was still crying, although I had no idea why, it probably wondered who I was and where the hell its mother was, "Yeah well kid I have news for you" I said out loud, "I would like to know where the hell your mother is too! Now please stop crying!" I walked through the lounge room and into the kitchen, placing the screaming basket and bag on the kitchen bench. By this time, I needed a drink, was it too early to open a bottle of Johnnie? Probably. I sighed looking over at the coffee machine, to discover it had just finished percolating my favourite brew. _Finally! _Something was going right with my morning. I grabbed my coffee cup filling it to the brim with steaming hot coffee, adding sugar and gulping it down, scalding my mouth and throat as I almost inhaled the hot liquid. I didn't care, as I could almost feel the caffeine starting to run through my veins, immediately making me feel better. Mmmm maybe this kid could do with some coffee too. Did babies drink coffee? Hell I didn't know.

My coffee high was starting to fade as the sound of crying filled my ears. How long could this kid keep it up, surely it would run out of air by now? "Shhh baby, please stop crying. Help is on its way" I crooned to the baby, the coffee helping with my mood. Wait crooning, since when did I start crooning? The baby had been here all of 10 minutes and I was already going soft! "It's okay baby, she'll know what to do with you." I said softly. The baby's cries started to soften, it appeared that it liked it when I spoke softly rather than yelled. Wow I learnt something. I continued to talk to the baby in my soft voice, trying to keep it as quiet as possible. It didn't stop crying but at least the noise was a little gentler on my ears.

"EDWARD!" came the sound of my mother running through the door. "I got here as soon as I could, where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen!!" I yelled, thankful that help, in the form of Wonder woman AKA my mother Esme had finally arrived. Whoops, yelling was bad mistake. As the kid starting screaming loudly again. Note to self don't yell near the baby.

"I got here as fast as I could. What is that screa…..ohhhhh" yelled my mother back to me as she came running into the kitchen, coming to an almost screeching halt at the door as she laid eyes on the still screaming baby on the kitchen bench.

"It's a baby" said Esme (ever the observant one).

"Yes" I replied "I think that's pretty obvious"

"Edward, why on earth do you have a baby sitting on your kitchen bench??? Where is its mother?" she said as she walked over to the basket. "Shh shh little one, its okay Esme's here" she whispered as she reached into the basket scooping the baby up. "Shhh baby girl, its okay" she said as she placed the baby over her shoulder rocking it backwards and forwards and stroking its back. The kid immediately stopped crying. Well what do you know, it just wanted to be picked up.

I stood staring at my mother rocking the baby. Thankful that I was no longer going deaf from the kids wailing.

"Edward. You didn't answer me. Why do you have a baby?" Esme demanded. Oh shit, she had her mother tone on now.

"I don't know" I replied. "I was getting ready to go for my morning run, when someone rang the door bell and left that (pointing to the baby) on my door step"

"Why would someone leave a baby on your doorstep?" Esme asked, still stroking the baby's back.

"Here" I said, grabbing the envelope off the bench and thrusting the two pieces of paper into my mothers hands. "Read this".

Octomum, grabbed the two pieces of paper from me, whilst continuing to rock the baby and pat its back all at the same time, boy that woman could multi task.

I watched carefully as she made her way into the lounge room, sitting elegantly down on one of the sofas, with the baby still in her arms as she started to read the letter addressed to me. A look of shock and realisation dawned on her face as she realised that the baby, Katie, I think her name is, was not only deliberately left on my door step, but was also according to the letter, my daughter. She then began to read the second page, and I'm sure I heard her whisper _"Oh my Katie" _as she did.

Once she was finished she placed the two sheets of paper next to her and then rearranged the baby so that she was laying in her arms face up, staring into the now quiet face of the little girl. She started into the babies eyes as she started stroking the babies bronze hair, and then looked up at me.

"Oh my Edward, she looks just like you did when you were a baby" she said, a smile growing on her face.

"I'm a grandmother" She announced excitedly at me, with full realisation dawning on her face. She then turned to look back down at the baby. "Hello Katie, I'm your Grandmother Esme, yes I am, you are such a beautiful baby. Oh yes you are. You look just like your daddy did when he was your age." she said, her voice changing from Adult Esme to coochy woochy baby voice Esme. She appeared to in her own little world, talking lovingly at Katie.

"Ahhh Mum?" I whispered "I know that letter says this kid is my baby, but we don't know that, I mean this could be anyone's kid. They could just be trying to get some money out of me. Maybe there is a ransom note or something somewhere in the basket saying "Give us a million dollars or you get stuck with our kid!" I don't even know who the mother is! Hell I didn't even know I got any girl pregnant. Should we call the cops and report that we found a …" I didn't get a chance to finish as my mother interrupted me.

"Edward Anthony, you stop right there. How dare you speak about your daughter like this. Of course she is your daughter, just look at her. I have never in all my years seen anyone else with hair that colour or eyes as green as yours, she is the spitting image of you as a baby. No stranger in their right mind would leave you a baby if they didn't have too. I know what a true bachelor you are, the lifestyle you lead! I love you but if you finish that sentence, I swear..! Esme yelled, her tone of voice leaving me with no hesitation that she was now a force to be reckoned with.

I stood shocked staring at her with my mouth open. My mother rarely yelled, but if she did, you listened. There was no crossing Esme Cullen.

"Edward" she continued, her voice softening after her rant "Look, let's not jump to any conclusions. This letter here says that this baby is your daughter and that the mother could no longer look after her. There is obviously a perfectly good explanation behind all of this, and in time we will find out what it is. I'm sure your father could run a paternity test to sort out the truth of the claim, but in the meantime we have a baby girl to look after. Now why don't you make yourself useful by brining me Katie's basket and bag so that I can see what her mother packed for her" Esme instructed.

"Fine" I huffed, turning and walking back in the kitchen, mumbling as I went "not my baby…stupid morning….stupid baby….why me".

"I heard that Edward" Esme yelled.

_Damn her and her super mum hearing!_

Whilst I was in the kitchen, I poured myself and Esme a cup of coffee, knowing that I would need several cups of coffee if not something stronger to get through this day. I retrieved the bag and basket and walked back into the room to find my mother standing with her back to me still rocking Katie and talking quietly into her phone. I carefully placed the coffee cups and the bag and basket onto the coffee table.

"… yes, a baby, that's what I said. Yes…. No….. I don't know….. Yes that would be best. Okay see you soon Sweetie" Esme said, hanging up the phone as she turned to look at me.

"That was your sister, I told her what was happening and she's on her way. Your father is at the hospital, but he is going to arrange a paternity kit so you can get that sorted. In the meantime he's going to call our lawyers to see what we can do with all this. But in the meantime I think we better cancel lunch". Esme instructed, once again in her no nonsense tone.

Ahhh lunch. And to think this morning I was dreading having lunch with my mother and Alice. After today, I don't think I would ever complain about lunch again. Lunch would have been easy compared to the nightmare that was now going on around me, hell, I'd even go on ten of my mothers blind dates than go through this.

Esme placed a now sleeping Katie down in her basket and set it carefully on the sofa, and proceeded to look through the blue bag. She then placed the contents on the coffee table. Nappies, bottles, pacifiers, a teddy bear, tubs and tubes of creams, baby oil (_baby oil, I think I might even have some of that upstairs_), some clothes, and more and more baby stuff.

At the bottom of the bag was a small photo album with a picture of a stalk on it. I picked it up opening it to see if there was anything inside. There were two pictures and the rest of the album was blank. In it was a picture of what looked like a little version of Katie being held in someone's arms, although she was rather pink and looked a bit squishy and you couln't tell who was holding here. The other was a picture of Katie lying on the floor smiling up at whoever was taking the picture. Beneath each of the photos was a date written in a scrawling hand writing.

Unfortunately there were no other clues as to who the mother was, no name, no birth certificate, no address or phone number. It appeared as though the mother had literally just left Katie on the door step and ran. I was still examining contents of the bag when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Alice burst through the front door bouncing through the house squealing "Aunty Alice is here, where is Katie?"

"Shhh Alice" my mother warned. "She's sleeping"

That didn't stop Alice though who ran to the basket, gazing lovingly at the sleeping baby.

"She's beautiful" she whispered "and looks just like you Edward"

"Shut up" I groaned "She does not and she's not my baby"

"Wait till she wakes up and you see her eyes" my mother said knowingly to Alice "They look just like Edwards"

Alice gently started to stoke Katie's tiny hand, and I watched curiously as the baby unconsciously curled her little fingers around Alice's finger. Alice's face broke into a smile as she whispered softly to her "alleged" niece. "I'm your Aunty Alice, we are going to have sooo much fun. I'm going to take you shopping, and teach you how to do your hair, and take you out to meet boys………" she went on and on as I tried to ignore what she was saying.

By this stage it was all too much as I took in the scene before me. My mother and my sister both looking over the basket talking in whispers to the sleeping baby. I think shock had set in when I realised that this was really happening. I tried to pinch myself. Repeatedly. (Damn I was going to bruise tomorrow.) Hoping that any second now I would wake up and realise that this was all a dream. I think even some small part of me hoped that this was still some big joke that my whole family was in on. But looking at the faces of my Mother and Sister and the happiness and new found love in their eyes, I knew that this was in fact reality.

Faced with the situation, I made the decision that there was only one thing I could do and there was only one person that could give me the many answers that were forming in my mind.

I had to find Katie's mother.

**Please review. The more you review the faster the hunt for Katies mother!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to S Meyer**

**Thank you to all who are reading this story, apologies for some of the grammatical errors, I don't have a beta so you get stuck with a few errors here and there. Also I'm not American, so my spelling is the English way for some words. **

**Edwards POV**

I didn't have a clue where to start looking. Hell I was 27 years old and had had more one night stands than I cared to admit. It wasn't like I went out every night looking for a new girl, it was just the whole relationship thing never appealed to me. I was a guy and I had needs that needed to be taken care of. I preferred to swoon them, reel them in with my Cullen charm, stroke their egos (and mine) with a few compliments, buy them a drink or 2 and then spend the night. Their place. Not mine. I usually left before they woke up. I did not want to deal with the morning afters. That was just too personal, it made them think and hope for more. Edward Cullen did not do more.

This was the only time I regretted not getting a number and keeping a little black book. Dammit if I had only kept a record, of who I had been with, tracking down Katie's mother would be a piece of cake. I knew that trying to find her would take time, but in the meantime what the hell was I meant to do. I couldn't look after a baby. I new just enough to take care of myself sometimes let alone another human.

"Mum? Alice?" I said looking over at my mother and sister who were sitting on the sofas talking and staring at the baby.

"Yes Edward dear" my mother replied not looking up at me

"What are we going to do? Who's going to look after the baby? How are we going to find her mother?"

"One questions at a time Edward"

"Sorry. What are we going to do with Katie?"

Alice interrupted "First we need to go shopping Edward. You need to buy a cot, and a change table, and some decorations for the nursery, and some clothes, toys, diapers, a car seat………." her voice went on and on getting faster and faster as she rattled off a hundred things that apparently I needed to buy.

"Wait, why do I need to buy all of that? And what do you mean my setting up a nursery!"

"She's your daughter, she needs all of this. What kind of father are you?"

"Obviously not a very good one" I huffed. "but she's not going to be staying here. Is she?"

"Well of course she is Edward" Esme replied " Where else would she go. Alice is right, we are going to need to set up one of your spare rooms as a nursery for her."

"Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself? I mean we don't even know how long she is going to be here. For all you know her mother might be back at any second now taking her away again. And then what, all that shopping would go to waste!" I yelled. This conversation was getting us nowhere. I could see that Esme and Alice had already fully accepted that Katie was my daughter and were already planning on how our lives would run from now on.

"I can't do this right now" I said "I'm going to go and take a shower". I had to get out of the room before Esme and Alice had me turning into a girl with all their talk of babies and shopping. I made my way upstairs and went through my bedroom into my en suite. It was times like this I was grateful a had spent a fucking fortune on my bathroom. I had a dual head shower with faucets also on the walls and sides that spayed water over your whole body. I turned the water on, making sure it was hot, stripped off my still clean running clothes and stepped into the streaming heat. I turned the switch on to the massage setting and let the water pummel at my body, trying to erase the stress that I could feel building in my muscles. I don't know how long I stood there, trying not to let my mind wander to the problems that were downstairs, but as the water started to run cold I knew I had to get out and face the 2 woman and the baby.

I towelled myself off, dressing in blue jeans and a t-shit, leaving my feet bare. I grabbed my blackberry out of the pocket of my running shorts and placed it in my jeans pocket. I ran my fingers through my wet hair, trying to tame my dishevelled locks and made my way back down stairs.

I hadn't even made it into the lounge room when the most awful smell hit my noise.

"What on earth is that stench?" I cried holding my noise as I walked the last few steps of the hallway and into the entrance of the room.

"Oh we are just changing Katie's nappy" replied Alice who was kneeling on the floor with Katie lying on a towel as she proceeded to wipe gooey brown stuff off Katie's bottom.

"It stinks!" I exclaimed, still holding my noise so that I didn't pass out from the fumes that were making its way over from the dirty diaper.

"Get used to it" my mothers laughter floated from the kitchen. "Soon it will be your turn to change her!"

"Oh no, there is no way I am getting with 10 feet of a dirty diaper!" I said, from my spot in the doorway, not wanting to get any closer than I had to.

My mother came back into the room from the kitchen then carrying a bottle in one hand and a towel in the other. She walked over to Alice who had now finished changing Katie's diaper and was redressing her in the same outfit she had on before. Alice picked Katie up and handed her to my mother, who proceeded to feed her with the bottle.

"I'm not sure what her eating patterns are like" my mother said to no one in particular "but her mother left some milk formula and bottles in the bag so I thought I better feed her before she starts crying again."

I made my way further into the room, with the smell having cleared, it was now safe to enter. I walked over to my mother who was still standing with Katie in her arms rocking her softy as she fed her the bottle. I had seen babies feed before but looking down at the little girl, she actually looked a little bit cute. Her eyes were focused on Esme staring up at her from what I thought were surprisingly long lashes for a baby, but then again I hadn't ever looked that closely at babies before.

One of her little hands was holding on to one of Esme's fingers, clenched tightly around it, whilst the other hand looked like she was trying to help Esme hold the bottle. Her little mouth was busily sucking away on the bottle, whilst her little legs were slightly kicking in Esme's arms. Esme looked up at me, noticing how intently I was watching the two of them.

"Do you want to have a go?" she asked smiling back down at Katie.

"NOOOOOO!" I said emphasising the "o" "I don't think that's a good idea right now, and besides, she looks happy where she is" I said flashing my mother one of my famous grins.

"Okay Edward. But you will need to learn this soon enough" She smiled back

"Edward?" Alice interrupted "Can I have your credit card?"

"Why Alice?"

"So I can go shopping of course! We already went through this" she exclaimed waving two pieces of paper at me "Here is the list of everything we need to buy. I'm going to go over to Baby World in a minute to get everything, but I need your card to pay for it. Unless you want to come with me?" She said trying to bat her lashes and smiling sweetly at me.

"No, no that's fine" I replied walking into the kitchen to grab my wallet of the kitchen bench. I opened my wallet and took out the one card that I knew didn't have a limit on it. Not knowing how much Alice was planning on spending, and frankly at this point I didn't really care.

"Here" As I gave her the card. Her eyes lit up as she realised which credit card I gave her. She looked like a little kid on Christmas morning who had just been given everything she ever wanted. "Yay" She clapped her hands as her body bounced up and down "I'm going shopping with Edward's Black Amex!!!""Alice" I warned " That card is for the baby list, not for you to go running off to Saks and buying clothes and shoes for yourself!"

"I know" she replied back at me "But you may just be buying me a nice present on this card today. A "Thank you Alice" gift for all the things I'm going to do for you. Oh, and I've decided I'm going to move in with you for a while. At least until you have found the mother. You are going to need the help, and it looks like Katie is going to need her Auntie Ali!

On that note she picked up her bag, shoved the card and the two pieces of paper in her pocket, walked over and kissed Katie on the forehead and headed out the front door, skipping as she went.

I just stood there gaping at her as she disappeared out the door. Alice was going to move in with me? Don't get me wrong, I loved my sister, but she could be down right annoying at times. She was always energetic and very much an "in your face" girl. She was like one of those energizer bunnies, that never ran out of energy. I good thing was, she was a great cook, and after living on mainly restaurant food and take out, I knew her home cooking would be a nice change. Plus she was a OCD like myself and would always clean up after herself as she went. However I knew that once Alice made up her mind, there was no changing it. She was a stubborn little thing, so I knew it was futile arguing with her. Looked like I was getting myself a room mate.

I did feel though that Alice and my mother were getting ahead of themselves. We hadn't even had her tested to see if she was my flesh and blood, or spoken to our family lawyer and already I was going to be spending thousands of dollars on her. I guessed that if Katie's mother turned up in the next day or two, I could always return the stuff or donate it to some charity.

"Edward are you listening to me" my mothers voice broke through my day dream.

"Sorry what?" I replied

"I said, your father just texted me and he is going to pop by in his lunch break. When he gets here we can sit down and chat about what we are going to do" She said smiling as she spoke. I could see she was trying to keep a positive outlook on this whole situation.

"Okay" I nodded. Settling myself down on the sofa as I switched on the TV, determined to do something normal to keep myself occupied whilst I waited for my dad. Esme had apparently finished feeding Katie and was now sitting with her on her lap playing with her and some small toys that must have been in the blue bag. I glanced at the clock on the TV and noticed that it was already 11.45am. The morning had gone by quickly and for that I was relieved. I kept my eyes focused on the TV, switching channels between morning talk shows, some soap re runs and some old football games, not really absorbing anything that was on the screen.

Esme had placed a now sleeping Katie in her basket and was in the kitchen pottering around and making something for lunch. She had just finished bringing a large plate of sandwiches with some bottles of soda into the room, when the door bell rang.

I jumped up going to answer it and hoping that it was my dad and not another baby lying on the door step. I opened the door to find my dad, Carlisle, standing on the door step, dressed in a large black coat over his hospital scrubs and carrying what looked like his medical bag.

"Edward my boy, what situation have you got yourself into now?" He exclaimed with a chuckle. The amusement dancing in his eyes as he walked into my house. Carlisle had bailed me out of many a situation when I was growing up and going through what my parents liked to call my "experimental stage". I was a rebellious teenager, and although I had calmed down a lot over the years, every now and then my parents liked to remind me of some of the stuff I had done in my younger years. I had never however ever gotten a girl pregnant before, so this was a first.

He continued to laugh as we walked into the lounge room where my mother was busy putting the sandwiches onto plates and pouring everyone a drink. He placed his bag on the floor and then bent down and kissed my mothers cheek as she handed him a plate and a glass, before settling into one of my arm chairs. Esme handed me my own plate before sitting back with her own lunch as we all started to eat. It was obvious that everyone wanted something in their stomachs before we attempted to talk about the little problem that was now fast asleep in her basket.

"So where's Alice?" my dad asked as he set his now empty plate and glass on the coffee table " I thought she would be here."

I thought it was odd that dad asked about my sister before he asked about Katie, but he was a clever man and obviously had his reasons for how to approach the conversation that was the pink elephant in the room.

"She's taken Edwards credit card and gone shopping to get some things for the baby. There were only a few things left behind, and she decided that if we were going to look after her we needed to be prepared" My mother responded.

"Ahh, typical Alice. No matter what the situation, she finds a reason to shop" my dad said nodding as he spoke. "So, Edward. Are you going to tell me what happened this morning, or am I going to have to try and figure it out for myself?" he said gesturing towards Katie.

I relayed everything to him, from finding the baby on the door step, to the note, to calling my mum to the smell of the dirty diaper and mum feeding Katie. Carlisle kept quiet the whole time just nodding and absorbing everything I said to him before he responded. I finished telling him everything I knew and sat back, rather exhausted with having to re live the stressful morning that I had had.

"Can I see the note?" He asked. I handed him the two pages that told us all we really knew about the baby. He sat there for a few minutes re reading the two pages over and over again. Before placing them down on the table and walking over to Katie's basket and to look down at her.

"Well she certainly does have your hair Edward, and she does look a lot like you did as a baby. Even if she is a girl" He said with a smirk on his face. I wasn't sure if he was implying that I looked like a girl when I was a baby of that Katie looked like a boy. Though guessing by the look on his face it was the former.

"You should see her eyes too Carlisle" exclaimed my mother "they are identical to Edwards. She looks so much like him, she just has to be his baby" she smiled.

"Well there is only one way to find out" He said, picking up his medical bag and opening it to remove a large envelope. He reached in and removed two little plastic tubes, each containing what looked like a cotton bud. He placed rubber gloves on his hand before opening one of the tubes and walking over to me. "Open your mouth Edward" he said

"What why? What the hell are you doing with that thing?" I asked

"I'm going to take some of your DNA so that we can find out if you and Katie are in fact father and daughter. Now do as your told and open your mouth."

I opened my mouth and Carlisle placed the cotton swab in my mouth, running it over the inside of my cheek before removing it and placing it back in the plastic tube.

"Is that it?" I asked. It appeared a bit simple.

"Yes" he replied. "Now we just need to get a sample from Katie, I'll send them off to the lab for them to run the tests. I spoke to our lawyer and he is going to take care of all the paper work. It may be a little bit unconventional this way but there isn't much else we can do at this point. He is also going to speak to the authorities and report that we found Katie etc just so that we are following procedures. He is also going to recommend our family is granted temporary custody of Katie until we can find her mother and sort this out." He got out the next swab and carefully placed it in the sleeping baby's mouth, repeating the process as he had done with me. He then placed the two tubes back in the envelope, putting it back into his medical bag and closing it back up again.

I didn't know how my dad had organised all of this in the morning, whilst he was supposedly working. He was a well known man with connections all over town, and it was obvious that he and my mother had spoken this morning whilst I was in the shower or otherwise preoccupied as he appeared very much in sync with what was going on.

"Thanks dad" was all I could managed as I realised once again my father was coming to my rescue.

"Not a problem. If she is indeed my granddaughter, I only want what is best for her. And right now by looking at her features, I'm pretty sure she _is _your daughter." He smiled. "Now what are you doing about finding Katie's mother?"

Damn I had hoped he would forget about that part for the moment. It was bad enough admitting to myself that I had no idea who the mother was, let alone to my parents. Although they were aware that I was no Saint, I didn't think they realised just how many women I had been with.

"I have no fucking clue!" I exclaimed

"Edward! Language there is a baby here!" my mother scalded me.

"Sorry Mother. I have no effing clue!" I repeated trying to tone down my profanities, even though I was sure Katie was still asleep and had no clue what I was saying.

"Well son, I think you better start trying to work it out. The more information you can gather, the quicker we can look for the baby's mother. She is obviously in need of some sort of help by the words in her letter. I would hate to think what she is going through in order to have given up her baby, and to a complete stranger. She must be in real trouble as it's not something that anyone would normally do. The quicker we find her the better we can sort this whole situation out" Carlisle lectured me.

"I know that. I read the letter too. I just don't know where to start. It would have been a year ago that I met her, and I can hardly remember what I did last week, let alone a year ago." I replied

"Its okay son, we will sort this out. I'm also going to set up an appointment with a paediatrician at the hospital to check Katie over. We have no idea how healthy she is, and although on the outside she looks okay, I would at least like someone to check her over."

"Well in the meantime we need to get to the bottom of this. Edward, why don't you call Emmett and see if he can help you. You two spend that much time together, maybe he can help remind you what you were doing around that time." Suggested Esme.

Emmett. Shit. He was going to have a field day with this whole situation. I could almost hear his laughter now. That conversation was not going to go well.

"Okay" I grumbled, "I'll call Emmett and see if he can help."

"Well that sounds like a plan. Thanks for lunch, but I need to get back to the hospital. Edward it will take a few weeks for them to run the tests so in the meantime it looks like you are going to have to play daddy. Congratulations it's a girl!" he said laughing as he picked up his bag, bending to give my mother a kiss before walking out the door.

Esme picked up all of the dirty plates and glasses, carrying them in to the kitchen to wash up and leaving me alone in the room with a sleeping Katie. I sighed not finding my fathers jokes funny at all. I took my phone out of my pocket, pressing the speed dial and lifting it to my ear.

It rang a few times before going through to voicemail.

"Hey Fucker its me. Can you call me as soon as you get this message? I have a little problem and I really need your help."

I hung up the phone, wondering what to do now. I sat back on the sofa picking up the remote and as I started flicking through the 600 channels the phone started to ring

_I make them good girls go bad I make them good girls go Good girls go bad _

I grabbed the phone answering it as quickly as I could as Emmett's ring tone sounded through the room.

"Eddie" came the booming voice down the phone before I had a chance to speak

" You have a _little _problem hey, well I could certainly hook you up with a girl or two who could sort that out for you!"

"Shut up you idiot. It's not that type of problem. Can you come over, I have something to show you." I said pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Sure dude, I can be over in half an hour?"

"Perfect, I'll see you then. Oh and Emmett bring some beer, I have a feeling we are going to need it."

I hung up the phone, leaning my head back on the sofa and closed my eyes. Now all I had to do was wait until Emmett arrived, hopefully with a few answers as to what and who I was doing a year ago.

**Song Lyrics: Good Girls Go Bad Cobra Starship**

**Please note that running a paternity test isn't as easy in real life as it is in my story. I have chosen to ignore some of the legalities to make it easier to write. it's the same with the legalities of finding a child. All of this is not possible in real life, but this is the law in my world so I'm sticking with it!**

**My aim is to have a new chapter up every 1 - 2 weeks, however I have a few busy weeks ahead in real life so apologies in advance for any delays. **

**We will get to Edwards search for Katie's mother soon, but coming up next Uncle Emmett comes to visit….. **

**Please review ****J**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to S Meyer**

**Okay so firstly I owe all of you that are reading an apology. I have had a lot going on, a personal crisis, I went on holidays, got a tan, got sick (in fact I still don't have a voice) and have only just managed to sit down and write. So it is a bit shorter than I wanted and there are probably a lot of errors, but hey its better than nothing right?**

**Thank you for all of you taking the time to review or putting this story on alert. It really does make my day. **

**Now enough from me, and back to the story!**

**Edwards POV**

Before I had a chance to fall asleep on the couch, there was a loud pounding on my door. If I didn't know any better I would have thought it was the cops trying to break down the door. Emmett had two volumes loud and louder and it looked like today wasn't the day he chose to be any quieter as he announced his arrival.

I stood up from the couch and was making my way to the front door when I heard Katie start to scream, obviously having been rudely awoken by Emmett's door pounding, she decided to respond with some noise of her own.

"Esme!" I yelled noticing my mother was not in the room with me.

"Mum, where are you? Katie is crying!" I walked over to the basket picking it up and taking it with me to open the door.

"Come on Eddie" came the muffled voice of Emmet through the door "You sounded urgent on the phone, now hurry up and open the….."

He didn't have a chance to finish as I opened the door, his fist still suspended in the air as he was ready to knock on the door again. With a basket containing a screaming baby in one hand and the door knob in the other, I stood there glaring at Emmett.

"Shh you big oaf you woke the baby!" I lectured.

"Well I didn't know that did I!" he boomed back "and why do you have a baby?" confusion growing on his face.

Rather than respond I turned around walking back into the house and plonking myself back on the couch, with Katie on the floor at my feet. I heard Emmett following me closing the front door behind him. He walked straight into the kitchen, depositing two six packs of beer in the fridge, after removing two bottles and sitting down next to me, silently handing me my own beer.

"Dude how do you turn it off?" Emmett said taking a swig of his beer.

"Turn what off?"

"The baby. Where is its off switch?"

"What do you mean where is its off switch. it's a baby Emmett it doesn't have an off switch. It wouldn't be crying if you hadn't tried to pound the door down. Katie was sleeping just fine!"

"Isn't it one of those fake babies that you can just unplug?

"No Emmett it is a real baby!"

"Ohhh. Who is Katie?"

"The baby"

"No who is Katie?" He asked

"Katie. Is. The. Baby." I said through clenched teeth. Although Emmett meant well he wasn't always the sharpest and quickest person I knew. It was obvious that the screaming coming out of Katie's mouth was having an effect on his brain capacity.

"Ohhhh" he said, the penny finally dropping. "Well why the hell do you have a baby?"

"That Emmett is the million dollar question." I said, wondering still where Esme was, I knew she must have been in the house somewhere, but she obviously couldn't hear Katie screaming (although I think even old deaf Mrs Robinson on the next block could probably hear her screaming) or chose to let me deal with it.

I took another swig of my beer, picked up the basket and tried to rock it backwards and forwards trying to get Katie to stop crying. After about 5 minutes of whispering and rocking her, she finally fell back asleep. I was actually okay at this I realised.

Gently placing the basket back on the ground at my feet, I picked the letter up off the coffee table and handed it to Emmett for him to read, whilst relaying everything that had happened during the morning.

Emmett just sat there starring at me for a few minutes not saying anything, before his face contorted, he started to slap his knee and before I knew it he was laughing. It wasn't the type of laughter when someone did something funny and you politely laughed, this was full blown hysterical laughter. His blue eyes were screwed into little slits, his mouth was hanging open and his whole body shook as he proceeded to move the whole sofa with his laughter.

"Emmett!" I said trying to get his attention. "Emmett. It is not funny! This is serious. Someone has left me with a baby! And keep it down or you will wake her up again!"

"Eddie!" He roared, struggling to get the word out of his mouth as he hiccupped in laughter. "You've been stalked! Get it! Its like you've been punked, but in your case with a baby and no sign of Ashton! Stalk - ed!"

I didn't find his joke amusing or funny and as his own hilarity set him off on another wave of laughter, I stood up from the sofa and stomped out of the room and into the kitchen to grab another beer.

Opening the fridge and grabbing the bottle, I had it open and had drank the entire contents in one go. I knew I shouldn't be drinking, not with a baby around, but by this stage I didn't care. Not only had my father found this whole scenario funny, but my supposed best friend was now sounding like a drunk hyena as he continued to giggle on the couch. My mother was nowhere to be found and Alice was off spending my money quicker than I could earn the interest. This day could definitely not get any worse.

I placed the bottle in the recycling bin, grabbed another bottle of beer for Emmett and a bottle of water for myself and walked back into the lounge room. Emmett had finally calmed down, although his cheeks were flushed with red, and it almost looked like he had laughter tears in his eyes.

"Have you fucking finished yet?" I exclaimed at him, sitting back down on the sofa and placing the two bottles on the table.

"Yes, sorry didn't mean to laugh _that_ hard, but its just so fucking funny! I mean of all the people of this to happen to. Its no longer Edward Cullen: self confessed womanizer and bachelor of the year. Its now just Edward Cullen: Poop wiper and bottle feeder" Emmet said, a smile still on his face.

"Dude come on, its not that bad. Is it? I mean I'm still going to get girls, maybe this may even help me pick up. What women isn't going to go gaga over a baby?"

"Edward. Listen to yourself. It was these girls that got you into this mess. Now have you any idea who the mum is?"

"No Emmett, I don't. You know me, I sometimes don't even get a name, let alone a phone number. I was hoping you could help me work it out. Going by the letter that her mother left, Katie is 3 months old, and we don't know if she was born early or late, so I'm guessing we need to work out what and who I was doing about 12 months ago, give or take a month or two."

"Well it's a good thing I keep a diary" Emmett said, nodding and all of a sudden looking surprisingly normal.

"You have a diary?" I asked in disbelief

"Well like a calendar thing. My mum bought me one a few years ago when I kept turning up for things on the wrong day. Its brilliant. I get up. Look at it and know what I have to do on that day. I don't throw them out so I should have last years at home somewhere. It even comes with these little stickers that you can stick on days when its someone's birthday and some of them have these really cute little pictures on them!"

"Emmett I think you have been hanging around Alice too much. Seriously you write all that shit down? What does it say, Monday get legs waxed, Tuesday lunch with mummy, Wednesday, try and find my dick as it appears I'm growing a vagina? Stickers to remember someone's birthday, you're joking right?"

"Laugh now Eddie, but when I can tell you exactly what I was doing to the day 1, 2 even 3 years ago, you will be running out and buying yourself one! Hell I bet you $100 bucks that because of my diary we find your mystery mummy in no time"

"You know what Emmett, right now Alice is out spending who knows how much on random baby crap that we probably don't need, so what's another hundred dollars. You my friend have a deal! I'm hoping this thing does work, cos right now that's the only clue we've got!"

As we shook our hands apparently making a deal, Esme made a reappearance coming up from the basement carrying a pile of laundry.

"Emmett dear, nice to see you again. Come to help Edward out with his little pickle I see. Well good for you. Now Edward I've just been downstairs doing your laundry, where do you want me to put it?"

"I'll take it." I said jumping up. Although I loved my mother and was grateful for her doing my laundry, something my housekeeper usually did, there was no way I wanted her poking around in my room or putting things in the wrong spot. I relieved the pile of clean clothes from her arms and headed upstairs and into my walk in wardrobe, placing each item in its correct spot. Yes I was a little anal about my clothes. I had a certain order of where everything went, it was all colour coordinated and in season. I had a closet most women would envy and as gay as it made me sound I loved it. After giving my clothes a once over, I headed back downstairs.

The site that I was met with when I made it back into the living room was not one that I would have ever imagined. There on the floor hovering over Katie was Emmett playing a game of peek a boo.

He had his hands over his face as he said in a coochie coo voice

"Where's Katie?"

Taking his hands of his face he cooed

"There she is!"

He repeated the process several times, amusing himself greatly. And although Katie was looking up at him, I don't think she really understood who or what this big thing was and why he was talking to her like that.

"Emmett what the hell are you doing" I questioned as I felt my phone in my pocket vibrate

Esme was sitting on the couch, a mug of coffee in her hand, watching with a loving expression on her face at the scene in front of her as my best friend played with her supposed grand daughter.

"Shhh Edward, I'm playing with the baby. What does it look like I'm doing?" He replied and then went back to his games.

I pulled out my phone to find one new text message from Alice

**Edward open the door. A **

Placing my phone back in my pocket and went and opened the front door.

"OMG Alice what on earth is that?" I yelled

**Any guesses to what Alice has turned up with?**

**Also a little plug out to some of the Fics I have been reading lately. Check out my favourites page, there are some great stories on there and I only wish I could write half as well as some of these ladies. So whilst you are waiting for another chapter from me, please do read a few.**

**Now see the little button down below that says review? Please please please**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay I know I owe a lot of you a big apology for the HUGE delay in this chapter, I have been very very very busy, but I have a few quiet weekends ahead (which is when I write) so hopefully the chapters will update faster. Thank you to all that have reviewed, and a big apologies that I was crap at responding. I promise to be better next time ****J**

**EPOV**

**Previously**

_Placing my phone back in my pocket and went and opened the front door._

"_OMG Alice what on earth is that?" I yelled_

Walking towards me and up the stairs was a giant brown teddy bear with a huge red bow around its neck. All I could see was what looked liked Alice's legs underneath and her hands wrapped around it its middle as best she could, her hands not even making it the whole way around. The bear was bigger than her.

"It's a teddy bear you moron, what does it look like?" Alice's muffled voice came from somewhere behind the bear. "its going to sit in the corner of Katie's Room. Now get out of the way we have stuff to bring in."

It was then I looked up to see a huge delivery truck parked in front of my house as two delivery men started to unload it. It was one of those trucks people hired to move house.

"Alice, why is there a delivery truck the size of the fucking Empire State Building out the front of my house? How much did you buy? Your list didn't have that much stuff on it? Did it?" I said turning around. I realised I was talking to no one as Alice had already disappeared inside the house.

I started walking back in side to join her, walking into the room where Alice and Esme were excitedly talking at each other, presumably about all the crap Alice had just purchased with my credit card. Damn I knew it was a mistake giving her my card.

"Come and have a look" Alice squeed excitedly at Esme.

Alice and Esme walked passed me as they made their way outside to see the contents of the truck.

"Here Edward" said Esme "Hold Katie"

Before I had time to register what she was doing, she had thrust Katie into my arms as she and Alice continued outside, leaving me standing there, arms outstretched holding Katie around her torso, whilst the rest of her body hung at a good arms length away from me.

"Ah Mum? Alice? I don't know how to hold a baby!" I yelled at the back of their fast disappearing heads.

I just stood there looking at her as her little legs kicked in mid air as I held her. She was looking back at me her little hands were balled into fists as she squirmed in my arms.

"Emmett?"

"Yeah dude"

"Can you hold Katie? I don't know what I'm doing" I asked, afraid that I was holding her too tight, or that I was going to drop her any second now.

"Nah you're alright, just hold her into your body or maybe come and sit down you look kinda funny standing there like that" He replied

"I know I look funny you idiot, I've never held a baby before, I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing!"

I walked over to where Emmett was sitting on the sofa and slowly sat down next to him, bringing Katie towards me so that she was sitting in my lap still facing me, my hands still holding her sides around her sides.

As I sat down, Alice and Esme reappeared carrying full bags of crap and proceeded to head up the stairs followed by the two delivery men who were carrying large boxes with pictures of furniture on the side. As they walked past Esme and Alice both looked at me with big smiles on their faces and were mumbling to each other something like …"so cute".. And ."he's a natural".

As they disappeared out of sight, I looked back down at the baby in my arms. The more I looked at her the more I realised what everyone else saw. It was like staring in the mirror at me as a baby. The green eyes that were reflecting back at me could have easily been my own.

As I continued to look at her, holding her and trying not to squish her, a little smile broke out on her face as she looked up at me, her little hands still flapping and punching in the air. Before I knew what was happening, my face was breaking into a smile too mirroring her little one, I couldn't help it. Looking at her little happy face, I was becoming all warm and fuzzy inside. It was the first time all day that I realised I had smiled. Hell I just used the words warm and fuzzy in the same sentence. I didn't know what the fuck was happening to me, but I felt good.

I was interrupted by my thoughts as I felt Emmett lean over my shoulder. He was sticking his tongue out and had his hands on his face, contorting his nose and eyes as he tried to blow raspberries at Katie. I swear Emmett was more of a baby than the one sitting on my lap. Her little face turned from mine to look at what Emmett was doing, the little smile remaining on her face as she looked up at the strange sight.

Before I knew what was happening I found myself bringing Katie closer to my body, turning her little form into the crook of my arm so that she was sitting resting against my bicep and facing Emmett. In this position, I only needed one arm to hold her leaving my other one free. Katie was still being entertained by Emmett who was pushing and pulling at the skin on his face and blowing up his cheeks to look like a puffa fish. In response, Katie's little mouth was wide open, chuckling in a slight laughter as she proceeded to dribble all down the front of herself.

I had to give it to her, at least she could tell that Emmett in all his childlike form, could be rather funny at times. As I watched the two of them interact, I felt a squeeze on one of my fingers on the hand that was holding the baby. I looked down to see her tiny little hand wrapped around my finger, squeezing it and holding on tight. As I looked down at her in wonder at the connection she had made of our two hands, she looked up at me , her eyes wide and sparkling.

I stared back down at her with a sense of wonder, having no idea what this little girl had gone through. She probably had no idea her mother had left her with complete strangers. As I looked at her little face, which was actually kinda cute, she proceeded to open her mouth and vomit all down the front of her and all over my hand.

"Ahhhh" I screamed as the white sticky liquid ran down her front and my fingers.

"She vomited on me! Emmett do something!"

"Ohhh Edward, you look so sweet there holding the baby" Esme said as she came back down the stairs.

"Cute smoot, this kid just spewed all over me. Don't just stand there, someone get a cloth or something, its running down my hand!" I yelled. Esme started to giggle at me, whilst Emmett had turned back into the cackling hyena as he laughed at my predicament. Katie didn't appear to care at what was happening around her as her little hand which was now covered in baby spew, kept holding on to mine and her other arm bounced up and down. It was almost as though she thought it was a game as her little mouth opened and she squeeked out a few sounds, like she was trying to take part in our conversation.

Esme finally stopped laughing enough to grab a box of tissues, taking several out and helping me by wiping my hand and Katie's mouth and the front of her outfit.

"Can you take her please mum?" I begged. "I need to go and wash my hands". I stood up, passing Katie to my mother as I raced into the bathroom turning on the hot water as I grabbed the soap and started to scrub my hand, trying to remove all traces of baby vomit. First this kid stunk out my place with her dirty diapers, then she spewed on me, what next?

After I had finished scrubbing and inspecting my hands and my clothes, making sure none of it had spilt, I made my way back into the lounge room to find it completely empty.

"Ahh Hello? Where did everybody go?"

"We're upstairs Edward" Came Esme's response floating down the stairs.

I made my way upstairs and followed the voices to one of my spare rooms. My place was a good size by New York standards a tribute to my Grandfathers decent trust fund. The basement contained a small laundry room and a large room that I had converted into an entertainment room, complete with a pool table, bar, large black leather couches and huge entertainment system running down the side of one wall.

The Ground floor consisted of a lounge, guest bathroom, and a large kitchen/dining area which was big enough to house both an 8 seater table as well as an additional sofa. On the first floor was my Master Suite, and two guest bedrooms and a guest bathroom.

The top floor, or the loft as I referred to it was a huge open space that I used as a music room. Up there was my piano, my music collection, a couple of guitars as well as a recording system and a large black leather couch. Only one of my guest rooms was furnished, it contained a bed, dresser and built in wardrobe. The other room was empty. I rarely had anyone stay over, so the one guest room was enough, plus my place was that big that I didn't really need to use it for any thing else. It was in this room that I found Alice, Emmett, the two delivery men and my mother who was holding a now clean looking Katie in her arms.

I stood in the doorway looking in on what was once an empty room. Surrounding the 5 people who were standing in the middle of the room, were bags of stuff and boxes full of what looked like baby furniture and of course in the corner closest to the window was the large teddy bear that Alice had carried in earlier.

Holy Shit! How much crap had they managed to get in here in such a short space of time. It appeared that the delivery truck had been emptied. Its contents now piled against the various walls of the room. I turned my head towards the people standing in the middle of the room. Alice was gesturing her hands widely pointing at different boxes and things as she gave the two delivery men and Emmett instructions, words spewing out of her mouth as she told them where she wanted everything to go. It appeared that the two delivery men weren't just delivery men but that they also put together the furniture.

Feeling my eyes on her Alice turned around "Oh good Edward you are here. You can help these two and Emmett put everything together. Now lets see, we have a cot to put up, a dresser and a change table to assemble and a rocking chair. Then there's the hanging mobiles that need to go over the cot, oh and there is a stroller downstairs that needs to be put together too, although I left that down there as there was no point bringing it up here. Then once that is all done, we need to put away all these bags of baby stuff in the room and then we should all be set. Now hop to it, this shouldn't take you too long. Now I'm going home to pack my bags with all the clothes I'm going to need and should be back in a few hours and expect this all to be done when I return!" With that she turned on her heal and marched out the door with a very determined look on her face, leaving the rest of us staring at each other wondering what the hell we should be doing.

"Um why is Alice going home to pack her bags?" I asked to no one in particular

"Because she is moving in here to help you Edward, don't you remember we spoke about this this morning?" Esme replied.

In all the "excitement" of the morning, I had forgotten Alice saying she was moving in with me. Well at least I had another spare bedroom, there was no way she was bunking in with me.

"Oh yeah that's right, I forgot". I mumbled. My brain was a mess. In one day my life had completely turned up side down.

"Well we better get to it" I said to the two delivery guys and Emmett. "If we don't have everything done by the time Alice gets back, there is going to be hell to pay."

With that Esme and Katie left us alone in the room to get on with the instructions she had left to put all the furniture together.

A few hours later, the furniture was all assembled and in the positions of the room that Alice had instructed. The bags of baby "stuff" as I was calling it were still sitting in piles on the floor. I didn't want to touch as I knew no matter where I put it, Alice would choose to rearrange it. I was also a little bit afraid of what was in there. Knowing Alice she would have just marched in the shop and demanded one of everything, not wanting to leave anything out. Hell for all I knew she probably had a pair of fake boobs in there!

It was getting late when we finally finished putting everything together. The two delivery man left, after I gave them a hefty tip for all their help, followed by Emmett who was going home to get his calendar/diary thing. We had discussed my predicament whilst putting together the furniture and it was decided that Emmett would go home and get his calendar from last year so that we could sit down and work out where we had been a year ago and hopefully get some idea of who I had slept with and who Katie's mother was.

**Ahh daddyward we'll still find you sexy all covered in baby vomit! What did you think? Edward is starting to warm up to Katie,,,,**

**The next chapter or two will be slow as we establish Katies place in the Cullen home, and then the time line will start moving quickly as the search for Katies mother gets serious!**

**Please review! Your reviews are better than a big giant teddy bear to hug!**


	7. Chapter 7  Teaser

**Okay so I owe someone a bottle of champagne. Someone out there, and I have no idea who must have recommended my story or put it on an alert or something as all of a sudden my inbox was inundated with a lot of you adding this story to your alerts list etc. So whoever you were thank you, this little mini teaser is for you! **

**So new readers welcome, old readers, glad you are still with me. **

**BPOV**

_Empty_

_Gone_

_Regret_

_Confusion _

_Heartbreak_

_Empty_

_Lost _

_Gone_

_Remorse_

_Empty_

_Gone _

_Gone…_

My body was curled into a ball on the thin mattress on the floor, as the tears ran down my cheeks soaking the sheets and blanket beneath me. My hands were gripping tightly to the tiny baby blanket, inhaling my daughters scent. The only thing of hers I had left.

I had finally done it. Given my daughter the life she had deserved. Given her to the father that could give her everything when I had nothing. In 24 hours my heart had shattered into a million pieces, I had aged 100 years overnight. All the life that I once had was left on the doorstep of a man I only met once.

I was

_Broken_

_Empty_

_Hollow _

_Lost_

_Gone_

_She's gone_

_What had I done?_

**A/N: Now, there are a lot of you reading, but only a few reviewing, so please, drop me a line even if you hate it, love it or just want to share a glass of champagne with me (if you are old enough that is) I would love to hear from you!**


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